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 California
Data followed by an * indicates a Significant Difference at the 90 percent level between that data and the data from the most current year.  Data followed by a "c" indicates the estimate for that year and the current year are both controlled; a statistical test is not appropriate.
TABLE 2. SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
  2003
Estimate
2002
Estimate
2001
Estimate
2000
Estimate
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
Population 3 years and over enrolled in school
10,115,380
10,201,689
10,117,251
9,687,775 *
Nursery school, preschool
5.41%
5.29%
5.11% *
4.96% *
Kindergarten
4.87%
5.04%
5.19%
5.52% *
Elementary school (grades 1-8)
42.34%
42.81% *
45.06% *
43.24% *
High school grade (grades 9-12)
21.52%
20.85% *
20.82% *
21.15% *
College or graduate school
25.86%
26.01%
23.81% *
25.12%
 
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Population 25 years and over
21,985,965
21,594,245 *
20,864,293 *
20,740,042 *
Less than 9th grade
10.21%
10.71% *
10.24%
10.81% *
9th to 12th grade, no diploma
9.61%
10.31% *
11.61% *
11.30% *
High school graduate (including equivalency)
21.91%
20.53% *
20.36% *
20.49% *
Some college, no degree
21.72%
22.62% *
22.50% *
22.53% *
Associate degree
7.44%
7.33%
7.12% *
7.41%
Bachelor's degree
18.71%
18.42%
18.09% *
17.64% *
Graduate or professional degree
10.41%
10.08% *
10.08% *
9.81% *
 
Percent high school graduate or higher
80.2
79.0 *
78.2 *
77.9 *
Percent bachelor's degree or higher
29.1
28.5 *
28.2 *
27.5 *
 
MARITAL STATUS
Males 15 years and over
13,148,803
12,926,265 *
12,488,228 *
12,393,176 *
Never married
34.32%
34.44%
34.21%
34.61%
Now married, except separated
53.94%
53.95%
53.84%
53.15% *
Separated
1.61%
1.78%
1.77%
1.96% *
Widowed
2.13%
2.03%
2.15%
2.23%
Divorced
7.99%
7.81%
8.04%
8.05%
 
Females 15 years and over
13,647,798
13,453,401 *
13,024,530 *
12,913,381 *
Never married
27.39%
27.35%
27.21%
26.89% *
Now married, except separated
50.33%
49.93%
50.22%
50.14%
Separated
2.90%
3.00%
2.96%
3.15% *
Widowed
8.23%
8.46%
8.50% *
8.71% *
Divorced
11.16%
11.26%
11.12%
11.11%
 
FERTILITY
Number of women 15 to 50 years old who had a birth in the past 12 months
498,420
531,978
539,680 *
570,074 *
Unmarried women (widowed, divorced, and never married)
28.09%
26.18%
26.50%
27.77%
Per 1,000 unmarried women
32
32
34
38 *
As a percent of all women with a birth
28.1
26.2
26.5
27.8
Per 1,000 women 15 to 50 years old
55
58
61 *
65 *
Per 1,000 women 15 to 19 years old
30
32
38
47 *
Per 1,000 women 20 to 34 years old
99
102
100
112 *
Per 1,000 women 35 to 50 years old
23
27 *
33 *
28 *
 
GRANDPARENTS
Number of grandparents with own grandchildren under 18 years in households
860,577
886,395
845,921
859,394
Responsible for grandchildren
30.60%
30.61%
32.56%
33.44% *
 
Characteristics of grandparents responsible for own grandchildren under 18 years
Percent Responsible for grandchildren
less than 1 year
20.52%
23.69%
20.04%
22.64%
1 or 2 years
23.31%
21.70%
25.14%
24.23%
3 or 4 years
17.51%
16.37%
17.09%
18.51%
5 or more years
38.66%
38.25%
37.73%
34.62%
 
Percent who are female
63.2
59.9
58.8 *
61.6
Percent who are married
69.9
73.4
74.9 *
72.4
Percent who are in labor force
55.3
56.0
56.4
53.7
Percent who are in poverty
15.7
14.1
21.7 *
16.2
 
VETERAN STATUS
Civilian population 18 years and over
25,206,687
24,814,199 *
23,955,545 *
23,771,646 *
Civilian veterans
9.10%
9.69% *
9.86% *
10.26% *
 
RESIDENCE 1 YEAR AGO
Population 1 year and over
34,160,721
33,839,399 *
33,197,357 *
32,598,801 *
Same house
84.68%
83.98% *
84.53%
83.47% *
Different house in the U.S.
14.55%
15.15% *
14.44%
15.37% *
Same county
10.19%
10.72% *
10.16%
10.57%
Different county
4.36%
4.43%
4.28%
4.80% *
Same state
3.02%
3.11%
2.86%
3.23%
Different state
1.34%
1.32%
1.42%
1.58% *
Abroad
0.78%
0.87%
1.03% *
1.15% *
 
PLACE OF BIRTH, CITIZENSHIP, AND YEAR OF ENTRY
Total population
34,650,690
34,292,871 c
33,681,509 c
33,051,894 c
Native
73.49%
73.06%
73.86%
74.10% *
Born in United States
72.43%
71.96%
72.83%
73.05% *
State of residence
51.21%
50.97%
51.17%
50.69% *
Different state
21.22%
20.99%
21.66% *
22.37% *
Born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American parent(s)
1.06%
1.10%
1.04%
1.05%
Foreign born
26.51%
26.94%
26.14%
25.90% *
Naturalized citizen
41.62%
40.58% *
39.67% *
39.50% *
Not a citizen
58.38%
59.42%
60.33% *
60.50% *
Entered 1990 or later
42.97%
40.89% *
39.88% *
38.11% *
Entered before 1990
57.03%
59.11% *
60.12% *
61.89% *
 
REGION OF BIRTH OF FOREIGN BORN
Foreign-born population with region of birth reported
9,187,222
9,239,248
8,803,617 *
8,559,922 *
Europe
7.51%
7.59%
7.62%
7.66%
Asia
34.26%
33.57% *
33.28% *
33.74% *
Africa
1.15%
1.34%
1.50% *
1.24%
Oceania
0.78%
0.85%
1.03% *
0.81%
Latin America
54.77%
55.00%
54.79%
55.06%
Northern America
1.53%
1.65%
1.78% *
1.50%
 
LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME
Population 5 years and over
32,115,612
31,756,018 *
31,091,046 *
30,577,965 *
English only
59.20%
59.36%
60.20% *
60.72% *
Language other than English
40.80%
40.64%
39.80% *
39.28% *
Speak English less than "very well"
19.35%
19.30%
19.10%
18.86%
Spanish
27.03%
26.78%
26.38% *
25.74% *
Speak English less than "very well"
13.36%
13.13%
13.23%
12.91%
Other Indo-European languages
4.18%
4.36%
4.18%
4.10%
Speak English less than "very well"
1.36%
1.48%
1.38%
1.28%
Asian and Pacific Islander languages
8.82%
8.76%
8.45% *
8.74%
Speak English less than "very well"
4.37%
4.42%
4.20%
4.46%
Other languages
0.77%
0.74%
0.80%
0.71%
Speak English less than "very well"
0.27%
0.26%
0.29%
0.20% *
 
ANCESTRY (TOTAL REPORTED)
Total Population
34,650,690
34,292,871 c
33,681,509 c
33,051,894 c
Arab
0.66%
0.54% *
0.68%
0.58%
Czech
0.25%
0.30%
0.27%
0.27%
Danish
0.56%
0.59%
0.65% *
0.64%
Dutch
1.19%
1.30%
1.44% *
1.29%
English
7.75%
7.92%
8.22% *
8.31% *
French (except Basque)
2.40%
2.52%
2.44%
2.54%
French Canadian
0.39%
0.40%
0.40%
0.41%
German
10.08%
10.78% *
10.53% *
10.59% *
Greek
0.40%
0.38%
0.40%
0.36%
Hungarian
0.40%
0.36%
0.39%
0.37%
Irish
7.75%
8.02%
8.18% *
8.28% *
Italian
4.43%
4.57%
4.47%
4.32%
Lithuanian
0.15%
0.18%
0.15%
0.16%
Norwegian
1.22%
1.26%
1.25%
1.31%
Polish
1.40%
1.42%
1.49%
1.50%
Portuguese
1.03%
1.04%
1.03%
1.09%
Russian
1.28%
1.39%
1.29%
1.18% *
Scotch-Irish
1.27%
1.35%
1.29%
1.47% *
Scottish
1.64%
1.80% *
1.66%
1.72%
Slovak
0.08%
0.08%
0.07%
0.07%
Subsaharan African
0.55%
0.50%
0.47%
0.42% *
Swedish
1.34%
1.35%
1.37%
1.48% *
Swiss
0.38%
0.40%
0.32%
0.37%
Ukrainian
0.24%
0.25%
0.26%
0.25%
United States or American
3.69%
3.27% *
3.92% *
3.53%
Welsh
0.49%
0.56% *
0.59% *
0.53%
West Indian (excluding Hispanic origin groups)
0.15%
0.19%
0.15%
0.20%
 
Profile Navigation
  
Viewing 2003 Multiyear Profile for California
  Demographic - Table 1
  Social - Table 2
  Economic - Table 3
  Housing - Table 4

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See footnotes below.

Footnotes

The profile universe is limited to the household population and excludes the population living in institutions, college dormitories, and other group quarters. Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability.

Ancestry listed in this table refers to the total number of reports; for example, the estimate given for Russian represents the number of people who listed Russian as either their first or second ancestry. This table lists only the largest ancestry groups; see the Detailed Tables for more categories. Race and Hispanic origin groups are not included in this table because official data for those groups come from the Race and Hispanic origin questions rather than the ancestry question (see Table 1).

1. An '-' entry in an Estimate column indicates that no sample observations were available to compute an estimate.
2. An '-' following a median estimate means the median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution.
3. An '+' following a median estimate means the median falls in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution.
4. An 'N' entry in an Estimate column indicates that data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau  |  American Community Survey Office  |  Page Last Modified: August 29, 2007